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Commercial newsgathering from space

Description: This technical memorandum concludes that although the technology is available to create a mediasat system, the high cost and current low demand for remotely sensed data will limit media efforts to own and operate a dedicated remote sensing satellite system.
Date: May 1987
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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Technology Dependent Children: Hospital Vs. Home Care

Description: This technical memorandum is about problems arising out of success. Recent advances in medical technology have permitted sick children who once would have died to survive with the assistance of sophisticated equipment and intensive nursing care. Often, the assistance is needed for just a short time, but sometimes the dependence on life-sustaining technology is permanent. As technology for helping keep children alive has improved, a new population of technology-dependent children has emerged.
Date: May 1987
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Reducing Launch Operation Costs: New Technologies and Practices

Description: This technical memorandum explains, the United States has spent relatively little effort in applying them to operations. Just as important as cost saving technologies are appropriate management methods, or strategies, to put these technologies to work. In some cases, OTA has found, cost savings could be achieved by streamlining operations and reducing the burden of documentation and reporting requirements that have slowly expanded over the years.
Date: September 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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Elementary and Secondary Education for Science and Engineering

Description: Students make many choices over a long period, and choose a career through a complicated process. This process includes formal instruction in mathematics and science, and the opportunity for informal education in museums, science centers, and recreational programs. The influence of family, teachers, peers, and the electronic media can make an enormous difference. This memorandum analyzes these influences. Because education is “all one system, ” policymakers interested in nurturing scientists an… more
Date: December 1988
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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U.S.-Soviet Cooperation in Space

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) intended to help broadly implement Public Law 98-562, which support a renewing of cooperation in space with the U.S.S.R.
Date: July 1985
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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Review of the Public Health Service's Response to AIDS

Description: A review by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of "the recent and proposed activities of the Public Health Service (PHS) in response to AIDS" and an evaluation of "the planning, resources and staffing of PHS's efforts to control AIDS" (p. iii).
Date: February 1985
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Energy Technology Transfer to China

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "examines the opportunities for the transfer of various energy technologies to China" and also "reviews the motivations for U.S. companies and other institutions for transferring technology and the vehicles for doing so" (p. iii).
Date: September 1985
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Review of Postal Automation Strategy: A Technical and Decision Analysis

Description: A memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that reviews the "United States Postal Service (USPS) decision to utilizes single-line optical character readers (OCRs) instead of multi-line OCRs" and conducts "a comparative technical and economic analysis of the two technologies in the context of the overall postal automation program" (Foreward).
Date: June 1984
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Marine Applications for Fuel Cell Technology

Description: A report on fuel cell technology is one of the most promising of the new electric power technologies currently undergoing development. Fuel cell power systems have attracted attention because of their potential for high efficiency, low emissions, flexible use of fuels, and quietness. The Federal Government and the private sector have been funding fuel cell R&D for more than 20 years. The state-of-the-art has advanced to the point that fuel cell manufacturers hope to begin marketing fuel cells i… more
Date: February 1986
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

New structural materials technologies: opportunities for the use of advanced ceramics and composites

Description: This memorandum is part of a larger assessment which will address the impact of advanced structural materials on the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing sector, and offer policy options for accelerating the commercial utilization of these materials.
Date: September 1986
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Quality and Relevance of Research and Related Activities at the Gorges Memorial Laboratory

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technical Assessment (OTA) that reviews the quality and relevance of activities at GML (Gorgas Memorial Laboratory), based on Gorgas' publishing record, an OTA-commissioned survey of GML's scientific reputation, a critical review of recent articles and current manuscripts, a comparison of GML's areas of effort with health problems in tropical America and with scientific opportunity, and a review of past scientific evaluations of GML (p. iii).
Date: August 1983
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

World Petroleum Availability 1980-2000

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "estimates plausible levels of world oil production to the year 2000 and assesses the factors likely to determine which levels are actually reached" (p. iii).
Date: November 1980
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
open access

Agricultural Postharvest Technology and Marketing Economics Research

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that presents "findings and conclusions regarding the role of the public and private research participants in the PHTME (postharvest technology and marketing economics) research, the benefits and burdens of PHTME research, trends in PHTME research funding, quality of PHTME research, and management of PHTME research in the public sector (p. iii).
Date: May 1983
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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Habitability of the Love Canal Area: An Analysis of the Technical Basis for the Decision of the Habitability of the Emergency Declaration Area: A Technical Memorandum

Description: A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines "the technical basis for, and validity of, the habitability decision for the emergency declaration area near Love Canal" (p. iii).
Date: June 1983
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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UNISPACE 1982: A Context for International Cooperation and Competition

Description: A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) published after UNISPACE '82, the United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, that "constitutes a portion of a major assessment of international cooperation and competition in civilian space activities that was requested by these same committees" (p. iii).
Date: March 1983
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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MEDLARS and Health Information Policy

Description: A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "analyzes the arguments for and against NLM's (National Library of Medicine) creation and dissemination of health-related bibliographic information" and "provides information designed to help Congress in decisions regarding the appropriate mix of NLM and private sector activities that might serve the public interest most efficiently" (p. iii).
Date: September 1982
Creator: United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment.
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